Felipe Paulino
Paulino's got one more start to prove he belongs and to force Coop into a tough decision when Moehler comes off the DL. While Paulino didn't pitch poorly on Apr 23 vs. Milwaukee, he pitched so well against the Reds on Apr 19 that it felt like a Jekyll/Hyde performance.
Last two starts:
| vCIN | 6IP | 3H/0ER | 6K:2BB | 7GB/7FB |
| vMIL | 6IP | 10H/4ER | 4K:0BB | 10GB/12FB |
Apparently the Brewers looked at that Reds game, because while Paulino had a 17:18 strikes looking:swinging against the Reds, that cut down to 21:6 by the time his turn came up against Milwaukee in the Game of One Thousand Singles.
Paulino vs. Cincinnati, April 19
| Taveras | 1x2 | 0K:1BB |
| Dickerson | 0x2 | 0K:0BB |
| Votto | 0x3 | 1K:0BB |
| Phillips | 0x3 | 0K:0BB |
| Encarnacion | 0x2 | 1K:1BB |
| Nix | 2x2 | 0K:0BB |
| Hernandez | 0x2 | 1K:0BB |
| Gonzalez | 0x2 | 1K:0BB |
| Volquez | 0x2 | 1K:0BB |
| Dickerson | 0x1 | 0K:0BB |
Now look at first-pitch strikes and balls for the Reds / Brewers games...
FPS: 14 / 15
FPB: 9 / 12
Troubling: Paulino is letting hitters tee off with RISP at a .545 clip (6x11).
Edinson Volquez
It's hard to know what to expect from Volquez - but right now he doesn't look like the 17-6 All-Star pitcher he was in 2008. Volquez' best game of the season was the April 19 game against Houston (typical, right?), but he followed it up with a 5IP, 1H/3ER, 7K:7BB performance against the Braves, throwing only 53 of his 97 pitches for strikes. Against the Astros on 4/19:
| Bourn | 1x3 | 1K:0BB |
| Tejada | 1x2 | 0K:0BB |
| Berkman | 1x1 | 0K:2BB |
| Lee | 0x1 | 0K:2BB |
| Pence | 0x2 | 1K:1BB |
| Blum | 0x3 | 1K:0BB |
| Smith | 0x3 | 2K:0BB |
| Quintero | 0x3 | 0K:0BB |
| Paulino | 1x2 | 1K:0BB |
| Erstad | 0x1 | 1K:0BB |
FPS: 13
FPB: 14
To come up with four hits against a guy who can't find the strike zone like that is flat-out depressing. But contrast Paulino's BAA with RISP with Volquez, and Volquez BAA with RISP is .125 (3x24). Dude just buckles down. He's had the bases loaded on him 11 times, and it's resulted in 0 hits (2 walks, though). He is not afraid of your three runners on.
